Career Development

Case Interview Ques ons

Commonlyusedintheconsul ngindustry,andincreasinglyinbankingandsales/marke nginterviews,too,caseinter viewstestacandidatesproblemsolvingandanaly calability.Belowaresampleques onsandanswersyoumaynd inacaseinterview.Usetheseques onstoprac ceonyourown,onlylookingattheanswersonthebacka er a emp ngeachques onyourself.Prac cemakesallthedierencewhenitcomestoansweringcaseques ons,and manysampleques onscanbefoundonlineandinthecareerlibraryintheOceofStudentServices,140RobertsHall. Brainteasers 1.Ifyourolltwodice,whatistheprobabilitythesumofthenumbersyougetisodd? 2.Imagineyouareinaroomwith3switches.Inanadjacentroomthereare3bulbs(allareoatthemoment),and eachswitchbelongstoonebulb.Itisimpossibletoseefromoneroomtoanother.Howcanyoundoutwhich switchbelongstowhichbulb,ifyoumayentertheroomwiththebulbsonlyonce? Marketsizing ques ons 1.HowmanypairsofboxersaresoldintheU.S.eachyear? 2.HowmanydrugstoresarethereinManha an? 3.Howmanygassta onsarethereintheU.S.? Business case ques ons 1. Yourclientmanufactureshairproducts.Itsthinkingaboutenteringthesunscreenmarket.Tellmeifyouthinkthis isagoodidea. 2.YourclientisMagnaHealth,ahealthcarecompanyintheMidwest.Itbothinsurespa entsandprovideshealthcare services.Magnacurrentlyhas300,000pa entsenrolledinitsplan.Ithas300salariedphysicianemployeeswhopro videabroadrangeofservicestopa entsinsixcenters.Thesephysiciansrepresentawiderangeofspecialtyareas, butnotallareas.Magnadoesnotownanyhospitalsitself,insteadcontrac ngservicesfromseverallocalhospitals. MagnaisexperiencingdecliningprotabilityandhashiredyoutohelpdeterminewhatiscausingitandhowMagna mightxit. 3.YourclientisaU.S.defensecontractorthatmanufacturestheghterjetsfortheBri shRoyalAirForce.Thecompa nyhasproducedthe$20millionghterjetforthepast12years.TheBri shgovernmenthasdecidedtoputthecon tractouttobid,however,andtowintheprogram,theclient'spurchasingagentshavees matedthatthecompany willneedtocutitscostsby5percent.Ithasaskedyoutohelpitreducecosts. Answerstoaboveques onsareonreverseside. More Prac ce Ques ons 1.CaseInPointbyMarcP.Cosen no,foundinthecareerlibraryat140RobertsHall. 2.VaultGuidetotheCaseInterviewdownloadfreethroughCALSCareerlibrarylink 3.WetFeethasmanycaseinterviewguidesAceYourCaseGuidesdownloadfreethroughCALSCareerLibrarylink 4.Thefollowingcompanywebsitesarepar cularlyhelpful: TheBostonConsul ngGroupwww.bcg.com/join_bcg/prac ce_cases/default.aspx Bain&Companywww.joinbain.com/applytobain/interviewprepara on/default.asp McKinsey&Companywww.mckinsey.com/Careers/Apply/Interview_ ps OliverWymanwww.oliverwyman.com/careers/19.htm CapitolOnewww.capitalone.com/careers/hiring/interviewing.php?linkid=WWW 5.CQInterac veh p://cornell.cqinterac ve.com/cqiaccess/member_dashboard.cfm 6.Caseinterviews.comwww.caseinterview.com/
CALSOceofStudentServicesCareerDevelopment CornellUniversity140RobertsHallIthaca,NY14853 www.cals.cornell.eduP:607/255CALS(2257)F:607/2544613calsstudentservices@cornell.edu

Page 2, Case Interview Questions

Career Development

Answers
Brainteasers 1.Answer: 2.Answer:Keeptherstbulbswitchedonforafewminutes.Itgetswarm,right?Soallyouhavetodothenisswitchit o,switchanotheroneon,walkintotheroomwiththebulbs,touchthem,andtellwhichonewasswitchedonasthe rstone(thewarmone).Thentheotherscanbeeasilyiden ed. Marketsizing ques ons 1.Answer: Assump ons: USpopula on=300million;Lifeexpectancy=80years 300million/80years=3.75million,roundto4million Samenumberofpeopleineachagegroup;50/50splitbetweenmenandwomen Childrenages010dontwearboxers
Age Group
10-20 (40 million ppl)

Women
10% buy one pair of boxers/ year=4 million boxers (40 million women x 10%)

Men
75% wear boxers; buy 3 pairs/year= 45 million boxers (15 million men x 3 pairs) 50% wear boxers and buy or receive as gifts 6 pairs/year = 360 million boxers (60 million men x 6)

20-30 (40 million ppl)

30-40 (40 million ppl) 40-50 (40 million ppl) 50-60 (40 million ppl)

Total=4million+45million+360million=409millionpairsofboxers Business case ques ons 1.Answer:(fromCaseinPointbyMarcP.Cosen no) Step1:Determinetheobjec veofenteringthesunscreenmarket.Possibili esincludetoincreaseprotsorbeatrising compe on. Step2:Analyzethecurrentandfuturesunscreenmarket.Whatisthemarketsize?Growthrate?Isthemarketinthe emerging,mature,ordecliningphaseofitslifecycle?Whoarethecustomers?Whatroledoestechnologyplay? Step3:Inves gatethemarkettodeterminewhetherenteringitwouldmakegoodbusinesssense,followingthestruc turebelow. Step4:Decidetoenterthemarketornot.Ifyoudecidetoenterthemarket,gureoutthebestwaytodoso,usingthe threeop onsbelow.

updated:6/2012

60-80 (80 million ppl)

CALSOceofStudentServicesCareerDevelopment CornellUniversity140RobertsHallIthaca,NY14853 www.cals.cornell.eduP:607/255CALS(2257)F:607/2544613calsstudentservices@cornell.edu